The present invention relates to saddletrees. Although the form and appearance of saddles has evolved over a period of years, saddles have predominantly been made from leather that is formed and shaped over a saddletree which provides the rigidity and strength required in usage.
Normally saddletrees are substantially rigid and have traditionally been made from wood and rawhide by hand. Saddletrees of wood have evolved into a customary shape in which two spaced apart longitudinal members known as treerails or sidebars are joined at the front and rear by saddle bow or pommel and cantle members. Saddletrees have been formed by carving and routing and joining processes into shapes that would best accommodate the leather construction of the saddle.
Manufacture of saddles based on wood is a relatively expensive process and includes the use of rawhide to bind and strengthen the assembled saddletree.
Attempts have been made to reduce the cost of the saddletree construction through the use of fiberglass reinforced plastics. Saddletrees of this nature are described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,293,828 to Hessler incorporated herein by reference. The problem with fiberglass reinforced saddletrees is that they are too rigid, are not durable and, under the stresses of usage, show a distinct tendency to break down. In addition, saddletrees formed of fiber reinforced plastics, as well as wood saddletrees, are too stiff and do not conform to the horse's back. In consequence, they cause abrasion to the sides of the horse, to the material discomfort of the horse. Saddles formed of foam-filled fiber reinforced plastics have also been described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,258,894 to Hoaglin. In this construction, two sections are molded from fiber reinforced plastic, combined together and the interior filled with urethane foam.
Injected molded saddles have also been tried and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,712,024 and 3,780,494. High cost of molding, difficulty of quality control and lack of versatility have been the problems with injected molded saddles.
It would be desirable to offer a saddletree which would afford low cost and a high degree of comfort heretofore not realized in the art.